Homebound
by MadameX818
Summary: Collaboration with Lord Nitro. War is coming. Garnet is gone. As the Gem Matriarch of War, Yellow Diamond herself, approaches Earth, the Crystal Gems prepare. Steven has discovered a new method to heal gems: Corrupted Gems will be healed. With the aid of the other Crystal Gems, Steven has taken charge . . . or has he?


Peridot looked at Amethyst, quizzically. "Amethyst, why would we need to fuse?" She asked, bewildered by the request of the Quartz.

"I wanna fuse with you! I can fuse with Garnet and Pearl but not you yet!" Amethyst shouted, grinning widely.

"Um, no." Peridot replied, walking towards the bathroom.

"Please?" Amethyst whined.

"No." Peridot spat.

"Amethyst, stop pestering Peridot. She's not comfortable with fusing." Garnet said from the kitchen.

"But Garnet! You never let us form Sugilite, and Pearl refuses to let us form Opal!" Amethyst pouts.

"Hm, next time a fusion is needed, we can form Sugilite then, okay?" Garnet offered. Amethyst cheered.

"What is...Sugilite?" Peridot asked.

"Sugilite is a colossal fusion me and Garnet make! She's got a flail and is awesome!" Amethyst said, sighing.

Steven walked in, hearing the last line. "Sugilite is awesome! She's super strong! Um, hold on!" Steven ran to grab a piece of paper and some crayons. He began doodling a chart, before holding it up and pointing.

"Okay so Ruby and Sapphire form Garnet! So, when Garnet fuses with Pearl, they form Sardonyx! Sardonyx has a huge hammer and is very elegant! She's kindly lanky like Opal, but not as lanky as Opal. Opal is when Amethyst and Pearl fuse. She can use a Bow with Energy Arrows! She's very tall and really lanky. Sugilite is when Garnet and Amethyst fuse, she's got a huge flail and is kinda stocky, but she's a total behemoth!" He pauses, pointing to the center. "And that! Is Alexandrite, when all three fuse. I dunno what her gem weapon is, but I know she can breath fire! She's taller than even Sugilite!" Steven grinned.

"There are many other possible fusions. Why don't you fuse with any of them, Steven?" Peridot asked.

"I dunno." He murmured.

"Rose Quartz was capable of a wide variety of different fusions. With Amethyst she formed Fluorite. When she fused with me, Pyrope. The most potent fusion was when me, Amethyst, Pearl and Rose Quartz formed Pink Chrysoberyl." Garnet commented.

"WHAT?!" Steven cried, covering his mouth with both hands to suppress his gasp. He whispered through his muffled mouth. "Why didn't you guys ever tell me?"

"Well, it's not like we can ever show pictures of her to you," Amethyst pointed out. "Like you said, it's already hard enough when you try to fuse with us. For all we know, it might be impossible."

"What kind of weapon did Pink Chrysoberyl have?" Steven asked, curious. If he could never see the real thing, he at least needed a mental image of what to expect.

"She could summon every weapon that Pearl, Amethyst, Rose, and I could ever create and combine," Garnet mused, a faraway gaze in her eyes.

"Why didn't she ever combine every weapon?" Steven asked.

"Because it would create a weapon so destructive that it would destroy any Gem or human just by looking at it," Amethyst said dramatically, which made Peridot take a few steps back and Steven's eyes widen with anticipation.

"Really?" Steven gasped.

"Nope," Amethyst replied with a nonchalant shrug. "We just thought it would be too dangerous."

"Ugh, all of this is just proving how barbaric you all are," Peridot said with obvious distaste.

"How did Gems fuse on Homeworld then?" Steven asked. Garnet crossed her arms silently, most likely reminiscing on darker times. Amethyst simply looked at Peridot with wide eyes, just as inquisitive as Steven.

"On Homeworld, fusion was only meant for a battle tactic, a practical use that required special circumstances," Peridot explained, smiling to herself. "Gems like _me_ didn't exactly need to fuse." The way she said that last part almost felt bitter, like she knew that fusion was the one aspect that she could never fully understand.

"Why not?" Steven asked, curious.

"Because we weren't soldier caste. I'm a Peridot. Peridots are technicians and Kindergarteners. Citrines are also Kindergarteners but are allowed to fight if they show the talent. We weren't meant to fight, that's why I had Jasper. I knew this world could be hostile, and I needed an informant, hence, the Lapis Lazuli." She gestures to the blue woman, who was sipping on her own cup of coffee. She glared. "Lemme out of this..it's too early.." Lapis said bleakly.

"What is messed up with Homeworld?!" Amethyst shouted. "I love fusing! You get all tingly and then you feel so strong! Man, Fluorite used to be awesome. She reminds me of Sugilite, just, a little more powerful." Amethyst said with a smirk.

Steven gasped. "Whaaat?! What could Fluorite do?" Steven bounced eagerly.

"Fluorite?" A shrill voice screeched. Pearl had entered, her face scrunched up in distaste. "Fluorite had a large plume of fuscia pink hair. She was tall enough you'd reach her ankle, Steven. She had a lovely dress that started black, turned into plum purple before ending in a violet of some sort. She had large finger nails, much like claws. She had fangs as well and teal colored eyes, with a sharp nose. Her gem weapon was truly magnificent, Steven! The way Amethyst's whip would wrap meld with her shield! Fluorite had a beautiful weapon, it was a pair of Buzzsaws attached to the whips. Such elegance! She was...beautiful, yet deadly. Like a Rose." Pearl commented.

Amethyst and Steven snickered with Peridot.

"What?" Pearl asked.

"Like a Rose?" Amethyst laughed out.

Pearl immediately blushed when she realized what exactly she had said. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Oh man," Steven said, overwhelmed. "You guys could make so many new fusions! It's too bad I can't be a part of it."

The young boy kept smiling, oblivious to exactly how uncomfortable his words made the Crystal Gems feel. They were always leaving him out of things because they didn't exactly know how to integrate someone who was half-human into a world of Gems. And there were always things where they would prefer to keep secret from him. Garnet personally felt sad that she couldn't introduce Steven to the joys of fusion as much as she could with the others.

He was only fourteen years old, after all. But sometimes, they forgot that and dragged him further and further into a place where children like him shouldn't be.

They never really gave him the safe childhood he truly deserved.

"Fusing isn't everything, Steven," Pearl said as she patted him on the head, ruffling his curls that reminded her so much of Rose. "There is a lot more to being a Crystal Gem than being big and powerful."

"Yeah, I mean, if being big and powerful was a requirement, then we wouldn't let Peridot join!" Amethyst interjected.

"What?" Peridot yelped, serious. "No one told me there was a height requirement!"

Amethyst and Steven fell over laughing as Peridot's eyes widened in confusion, Garnet comforting the little green Gem while Pearl silently scolded the purple Quartz with piercing blue eyes that were as sharp as the blades kept in her room.

Recovering from the confusion and the embarrassment, Peridot blurted out, "So what if I'm not exactly ready for fusion? It's not like Steven is, either!"

"Hey, I've fused before," Steven said, only to defend himself. "Connie and I make a great knight."

"All we're already so proud of that," Pearl reassured the young boy with yet another ruffle of his hair.

"I don't see many possibilities if he can't fuse with Gems," Peridot grumbled to herself.

"It's not his fault!" Pearl cried, placing her hands on her hips. "His body just doesn't bode well with ours and so far, we haven't made much success trying to change that."

"Why is it so important for me to fuse with you guys, anyways?" Steven asked, feeling left out of the conversation.

"It's simply something we always wanted to share with you," Garnet said softly, placing her hands on the young boy's shoulders.

"And it might bring back a few of your mother's fusions," Pearl said wistfully. "A chance to resurrect a little piece of her." Pearl pondered, thinking of Rainbow Quartz.

"Yeah, I remember all those great times. I miss being Fluorite," Amethyst reminisced with a sigh.

Once again, the topic of Rose was brought up again and it made Steven feel a lot smaller than he actually was. And once again, he got lost in the conversation and was unintentionally left out.

It wasn't the Crystal Gems' fault. And it wasn't his, either.

Yet it still bothered him deep down, like his presence doesn't seem to fill in the spot Rose left empty the day she gave up her physical form. There was always a looming shadow above him, a space he could never properly take up.

It was almost like he was trapped: trying to fulfill this empty space so he could feel less like a burden towards his guardians.

It was what he wanted, right? To claim the legacy his mother left for him, to become the person he never got a chance to meet, so he could finally feel worthy of the gem he was given.

But it grew tiresome, sometimes, watching the Crystal Gems grieve and mourn while he was left in the background, wondering what he could do, what his mother would do, and then remember that he doesn't know what his mother would do, and might as well never know.

Just like he might as well never be the person the Crystal Gems want him to be.

"Say, how do you summon these, Gem Weapons?" Peridot hummed, curious.

Pearl gasped, her eyes widening as she smiled brightly. "Oh Peridot, you're already coming so far! Hmm, given you're technological preference you may have some sort of 'gun' of sorts, Ooh, I wonder what it could be!" Pearl gasped.

"What Pearl is trying to say is, Peridot, is that it's impressive of you to ask that. Collect your energy into your gem, imagine it made manifest. It will come to you." Garnet commented.

Peridot nodded, taking a deep breath. A light shone from her triangular gem, materializing. It glowed, before in a burst of light a little circular disk appeared, seemingly layered with a peridot gem embedded in it, her facet number and such etched around it. Peridot glared.

"That's it?! This useless scrap? What's this useful for?!" Peridot screeched. Garnet's eyes narrowed at it, behind her glasses.

"Press it against your gem, Peridot." Garnet commanded.

"Why?!" Peridot roared back.

"Just trust me." She said with a grin.

"Fine!" The little gem hissed, placing the disk against her gem. "I don't see wha-" She paused, as the disk expanded, forming a suit of armor, which quickly turned invisible around most of it, except her feet and hands, which looked eerily like..

.."My limb enhancers!" She shouted in disbelief.

"Those are not the original, but are better. I can tell." Garnet said humming. Peridot grinned, before touching her gem again, pulling out a pair of pistols. "Whaa?" Peridot murmured in disbelief.

"That disk was not your gem weapon, Peridot. Those pistols are your Gem Weapons." Garnet said again, smiling at the little gem.

Peridot spun the pistols, already having great familiarity. Her eyes widened. She knew how to use these. All their secrets were _hers._ Except for a few. But, they were _hers_. She smiled. "TAKE THAT YOU STUPID CLODS!" She shouted, showing off her pistols.

Peridot could feel this would be a great day.


End file.
